I didn’t really mean to write a parody, but I guess that’s what the novella turned out to be. It’s ironic (in real life, I rarely “go with the flow” with popular opinion, but I always “go with the flow” when it comes to writing).

Isobel’s fanfiction dream comes true when Edwin and Jacobus materialize out of thin air. But the two hunks secretly have the hots for each other…

EXCERPT [Literary Heroin]:

Ms. Isobel Swann, the English teacher, looked at her star pupil.

“So, what did you think of Twue Wuv?” Isobel asked with a sweet smile.

“I learned that it’s okay to feel the way I do: that my life has no meaning unless I have a boyfriend,” gushed Stephenie, Renesmee’s BFF.

Stephenie was overweight but enjoyed dressing provocatively. She thought the guys couldn’t handle her. Most of them were scared off by her seductive ways and non-stop approaches towards anyone in class who owned a pair of testicles.

“A real man is like the perfect vampire-boy and all the perfect guys in Twue Wuv.”

In the past, I used to just ignore whatever I didn’t like. I focused on creating more of what I wanted to see instead (a form of “taking the high road,” I guess). I was also always worried about offending people with saying it as it is (because I tend not to mince my words if I really want to give a person a piece of my mind, lol!).

However, I guess I’ve reached a point where I have to ask myself if I’m more fulfilled by exposing hypocrisy, or succumbing to it.

Am I happier “exposing corruption,” or am I happier to play nicey-nice in the hopes of someday experiencing a “stroke of luck” and being rewarded by the system (I’m mainly referring to the multi-million book/movie deal which defines literary success nowadays)?

I guess I’m happier with the former.

I joined (and subsequently left) a mass communications course in my late teens because I was fascinated with the power and influence of the mainstream mass media. I found the course unchallenging because it seemed to be more geared towards grooming people to be broadcasters on radio and TV than for people who were interested in CRITICAL ANALYSIS of the media.

Critical analysis is something that seems to be lacking more and more in the mainstream mass media, with every year that goes by. The mere act of “thinking for myself” begins to feel more and more of a crime as time goes on too!

I care about critical analysis because there IS a correlation / relationship between the mass media and society. What is considered “good art” or “bad art” is a reflection of the culture and society that produces as well as consumes this art (in the form of books, movies, music, etc).

Sometimes I really question how “useful” a certain thing is. For example, it’s easy to convince oneself that “reading YA novels” is wholesome and positive because it’s “YA literature” (as a publicist told me, “YA literature is all about innocence!”).

I really question the value of something when its marketing and packaging is more substantial than the actual contents of the product. I really question society when it buys into hype, again and again and again. I really question certain concepts that are distasteful (such as Hollywood’s penchant for globally exporting “cultural whitewashing” to all countries and cultures everywhere).

My whole life, people have told me things like, “Hollywood and NYC publishers are a business, it’s all about money and there are no ethics involved — that’s just the way it is” — “Asians do not exist in most Hollywood movies, just live with it — that’s just the way it is” — “The media produces rubbish because that’s what people want — that’s just the way it is.”

That might be “the way it is,” but it doesn’t MAKE THINGS RIGHT. It doesn’t mean that we cannot strive for something better (how good can a society really be if its existence is to serve corporate entities that are fueled by nothing but corporate greed?).

I intend to continue writing parodies for the following three purposes:

I am done being nicey-nice — more people have to “say the unsayable.” All I ever wanted to do with writing/publishing was to “make a difference” somehow (to borrow another quote from Margaret Thatcher).

#2: Battle Royale / HG (in “tribute” to everyone who stood up for Battle Royale and Stephen King’s The Running Man and The Long Walk — and because I read this article on ABC News and this article on The Last Psychiatrist)

#3: Eat, Pray, Love.

#4: Joy Luck Club (as an Asian, I hated this book, lol).

#5: Fifty Shades of Grey.

Astrologically-wise, maybe it’s because I have an Aries North Node and a North Node that’s in the first house.

Honesty. One of the finest traits of this nodeholder (North Node in the First House) is his honesty. He sees the pretense all around him and remembers well the need to compromise the truth in order to gain approval. He is now ready to abandon this practice and fully express his likes and dislikes no matter what the consequences. The freedom to be his genuine self is one of his greatest joys, and other people are often entranced by the clear light that emanates from his eyes and his refreshing ability to tell it exactly like it is.

And I received some wise words from the blog owner of Raging Universe (I wrote him a short note of thanks for the article). His reply:

“…and I sometimes forget how important it is to expose the hypocrisy. I can’t stand the sugar-coating, and I find that those who are offended aren’t worth clinging to. Wiser ones will replace them.”